Geronimo
by senoritacheesepants
Summary: "Yes, River, It will kill me. Which is exactly why I need to do it. Geronimo!" Clara and River, along with two unexpected companions, witness the Fall of the Eleventh.


Three people walked along a field on the edge of a cliff, silhouetted against the sun. The tallest of the trio was male, with dark hair that flopped over his forehead and a bow tie and jacket on, despite the warmth. There were two women walking slightly ahead of him, the shorter in simple jeans and a shirt with straight dark hair. To anyone who saw them, they were alone, but to the two, they knew they had a companion of a tall curly-haired woman. That same woman, River, called to the male, who happened to be hanging in the back of the group.

"Come on Doctor! It can't be much farther now," she looked over her shoulder. They both knew it was a lie, the village they were seeking was still several miles away. The shorter woman, Clara, rolled her eyes before pointing out to her friends something in the distance.

Two figures could be seen up ahead, walking towards them. One was quite obviously female, with bleached blond hair and a tight leather jacket, while her companion was a tall brown-haired male in a blue suit. Immediately after seeing the two, the Doctor stopped. Clara and River continued walking a few paces more before seeing he wasn't with them.

"They should be all right, they look humanoid from here," Clara stated, " In fact, that bloke isn't half bad-looking either." She walked back to him and put her hand on his elbow, trying to coax the Doctor into walking again. River, sensing something wrong, looked back to the couple and narrowed her eyes.

"They won't recognize you Doctor, and they might know something. Scratch that, they will most definitely know something. Now come on." River started to walk again, with the Doctor following her numbly after a moment. Clara kept pace beside him, knowing something wasn't right.

"Who are they?" she whispered. The Doctor didn't say anything, just shook his head. "That man- he looks familiar." His eyes flashed to the man, before continuing to the girl beside him, before flashing back to River, and then to the ground. There was only a few feet left until the two groups would meet. Clara stepped in front of the Doctor, trying this time to stop him so she could find out what was going on before something happened.

"Doctor-" she started but she stopped after he looked her in the eye. His expression shocked Clara, there was so much sorrow and pain and fear, yet there was unbelievable happiness hidden underneath. She paused long enough for him to look back at the couple, his eyes lingering on the girl, where each of his expressions deepened, before stepping past Clara and walking once more. She had no choice but to follow. And she would get her answers soon enough, the trio and the duo had finally crossed paths.

* * *

"Hello you lot! Shouldn't you all be long gone, with all these _aliens _around here?" the man said casually.

"I could say the same to you too," Clara responded, put on guard by the tension coming off the Doctor. His eyes never seemed to stay on the man, they would look at him for a moment, before flicking somewhere else. They would however, often flick to the blonde next to him.

"Clara, stop," he whispered. She looked at him in annoyance and curiosity. The man seemed to also notice his strange behavior. "Clara," he nodded at her, "and who are you, may I ask?"

The Doctor said nothing, even as the man stepped closer and began to study him. Eventually the Doctor's hazel eyes met with the man's questioning brown ones and didn't immediately move away. The man narrowed his eyes slightly, as if reading something written in them.

"Doctor, what is it?" the blond girl said, curious and exasperated all at the same time. The name jolted Clara, who then recognized both the man and the woman standing beside her Doctor.

"Who is it, more like it," the man replied to her before speaking directly to the person in front of him. "You know who I am, I know who you are. But do you know who she is?" he asked, nodding towards his companion.

"How could I forget?" the Doctor whispered before looking at her, his expression tightening. "Rose Tyler," he said, with a sad smile.

The man smiled. "I'm glad she's still remembered."

"I'm not always glad about that," the Doctor eyes moving back from Rose and to the man. "And you of all people should understand why." The man simply nodded before looking at Rose and back.

"Doctor? How does he know me? Who is he?" Rose asked, a worried tone in her voice.

The man looked into the Doctor's eyes a second more before nodding at him, stepping back and towards Rose.

The Doctor straightened his bow tie before grinning "I'm the Doctor. It's been such a long time, Rose Tyler."

She stepped forward a little unconsciously. "Doctor? So you- you changed again?"

"Yes, got a wardrobe upgrade as well," he said fixing his jacket a little.

"I was just going to ask about that. I mean, really? A bow tie?" the other Doctor said.

Rose's head looked back at her Doctor. "Well, I like it," she looked back at the new Doctor, "Bow ties are cool."

The bow tie-clad Doctor smiled victoriously, looking back and grinning smugly at Clara and something on his other side that Rose couldn't see. "I know!"

The traditional tie wearing Doctor rolled his eyes, before looking at the real Doctor's seemingly empty side and frowning. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to fully see what he grinned at.

"So is he one of your previous Regenerations then, Doctor?" Clara spoke up and asked her Doctor.

"Human Biological metacrisis of a previous regeneration, actually, long story," he said turning to his side to look at Clara. "And this, Clara Oswald, is Rose Tyler." The two girls in mention nodded as introduction.

"And me, of course, but who cares about me? I'm just a mentally linked psychic projection of your wife, after all!" River stated matter-of-factly.

Rose turned around and looked at her own, more familiar, Doctor as both Clara and the other Doctor's heads snapped to an empty space at the same time. However, the sight she saw wasn't comforting. He had his hands clapped against his forehead as if he had just remembered something that had bothered him for a while. "Doctor?" she asked cautiously.

"Of course! A mentally linked psychic projection! Oh!" he cried. Clara and the Doctor's heads snapped to him, in sync again. Rose would have found it funny if it wasn't so confusing. Her Doctor was now over at the space moving his head around, as if trying to see something from an angle.

"Be sure to get me from my good side," River joked.

"Oh, there you are again! But I still can't see you." He frowned and looked at his former self and his companion. "I can only assume she's linked to you, which is why I can hear her. Wait, no! Oh this is clever! She's linked to Clara, of course! And the bond of a marriage ceremony allows you to see her and me to hear her! That's brilliant!"

"Marriage? You're _married_?" Rose asked, the only thing she understood out of his outburst.

"I am over two thousand years old, I had settle down sometime, Rose," the older Doctor explained. "Ought to tell that advice to yourself," she muttered with a quick glance at her Doctor.

"Psh, the age thing again, love? Pretty boy over here is hardly nine-fifty," said River.

"Wait- Pretty boy? I've heard that before. No," the younger Doctor looked at the older, "You didn't. Doctor Song?"

"Hello sweetie," she said, happy to finally have some recognition. Soon after being remembered, she appeared for the human Doctor as well as the human companion and full Time Lord.

"I'm still lost," Rose shrugged, feeling left out.

"Sorry, come here." Rose stood close to her Doctor as he put his hands against her head and added a small link so she could see and hear River as well. She stepped away from him once he finished, and blinked in surprise as she saw her for the first time. River wiggled her fingers as a greeting and Rose slowly held up a hand in response.

"Wait, you can do that?" Clara blurted out at her Doctor. "You can just do a Vulcan Mind Meld- thing, but you choose to headbutt people?"

* * *

Hours later, the scene was a very different one. The trio turned quintet, instead of chatting and planning as they were earlier on the same field, were running away from a small, yet unusual village at top speed. A curly-haired woman led the group, with occasional glances back to see everyone still together and how much progress they had made. Behind her, a man in a pinstriped suit and a blond girl were grabbing each others hands as they raced along. Bringing up the rear, another couple, a man in a jacket and bow tie was clutching his chest with one hand and a short brunette girl with the other. A loud explosion could be heard in the distance as the village-turned-alien-nest started to be destroyed.

Finally a safe distance away, the lead woman stopped her sprint and looked back from where they came, where smoke could be seen rising from the ashes.

"It was a beautiful village, really," River said.

"We had no choice," the pinstriped Doctor argued as he and Rose reached her. From the harsh way he said it, it was obvious he was still arguing with himself on that very topic. The last of their party came in the form of Clara half carrying the other Doctor to where they were. As soon as they stopped, he collapsed onto the soft grass. Immediately, the other four surrounded him.

"Doctor? Doctor, tell me what's wrong!" River, who was easily the most shaken, half-whispered to him.

"Halted. Regeneration. Bugger in village. Got me. Had to. Get Away," he said breathy, "I'm dying."

"Halted regeneration? Have we tried that before?" his human counterpart asked. The three other girls said nothing, though Clara had tears running down her cheeks. River sat numbly in silence, taking nothing but the Doctor laying before her.

"Did it. With you. Saw Rose. Donna. Mickey. Safe. Hap-" he was cut short by his own groan of pain. At the mention of her name and the fact he came back to her as he was dying, Rose's eyes filled with tears which did not fall until she saw his current pain. River closed her eyes and winced as if his pain was her own as well.

"Different now. Not coming back. Dying. Not regenerating," he cut himself off again as pain overtook him. He did his best to not make it visible, to save the others grief, but failed. Everyone was silent a moment as the dying man writhed in pain.

"Well, you have to do something to bring about the regeneration, instead of waiting for it," the healthy Doctor advised. The dying Doctor's eyes flew open. "Yes!" he half-shouted. With a grunt, he said up and tried to stand, the other three were up in a second, immediately coaxing and helping him stand and sit at the same time. The dying Time Lord shook them all off and stood shakily on his own feet.

"Bring about. Regeneration," he muttered. River finally understood what that meant, stood up, and glare at him.

"Doctor-" she started. "River, if he doesn't do this he'll die! Permanently!" The suited man argued. The other man was already walking unsteadily towards the cliff's edge.

"He's going to kill himself!" she cried out in desperation, trying to make the others see sense, to see her worry. "So he can live!" The other Doctor cried out, just as desperately, to try to make her see sense.

"Doctor," Rose whispered and pointed at the man walking closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Doctor, that cliff is at least fifty feet! It will-" River started, walking to where he was, followed by the others.

"-Will kill me. It will restart my Regeneration," he ended in near whisper as one of his hearts began to stop. He was at the edge, looking down.

"Doctor, please," River whispered, begging now, _don't do this._

He looked back at the people he loved and gave a small smile. A smile that said goodbye. He turned back and spread his arms out.

He stepped over the edge, despite the groups outbursts, and River's heartbroken scream of "_No!_"

The last thing they heard was the Doctor's shout: "_Geronimo!"_

* * *

**A/N: The_ Fall_ of the Eleventh. Literally.**

** I know he doesn't regenerate til Christmas, and Rose and her Doctor will probably be long gone, but that's just the way it came out. Basically I finished watching the special today, and had a massive word vomit about Eleven's Regeneration. On that same note, I have high hopes for Peter, though I am crying already about the Regeneration and Matt leaving. It's a weird combination of hope and happiness and fear and sadness. Ah, the life of a fangirl.**

**Anyway, what do you all think about Matt leaving and Peter coming on board? **

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


End file.
